The Ups and Downs of Romance
by Miyoko Rosewood
Summary: Its been two years after the defeat of Ultimecia. Yet, Seifer has yet to come and face the biggest demon of all times: love. That and two completely different groups out for his blood.


A/N: So out of sheer boredom of my infatuation with video games, I've decided to finally write a fan-fiction about my favorite all time game! Final Fantasy Eight! I found that my three top favorite characters would have to be Seifer, Zell, Squall (for the males) and then Quistis, Selphie, and Fujin (for the females). Um so yes! This is my first fan-fiction! Any reviews will be welcome and flames will be giggled at!

Summary: Two years have passed since the defeat of Ultimecia and Seifer has come to face the biggest demon as of yet: Senera.

The Ups and Downs of Romance

Chapter One: Beer Stains

Seifer smiled as he took the tall glass of beer and brought it to his lips as Raijen stood there with the microphone in his hand. Fujin sat across from Seifer, shaking her head and placing her delicate hand on her face. Raijen squinted at the screen of words, trying to keep up with the incredibly slow song. His voice cracked a bit and Fujin's head went sinking down to the table and Seifer, well, he started to laugh. Loudly.

Raijen stepped down off of the stage, a few drunken people in the crowd clapping merrily, or drunkenly, as he stumbled back to his table. "Alright, Fujin! You owe me fifty gil for that, ya know!"

She mumbled, "Affirmative..."

"Aw come on Fujin!" Seifer said, placing his beer down onto the table and watched her as her one eye lifted up and looked at him. "Have a bit of fun!"

She sighed and sat up, leaning her head against Raijen's hulking shoulders. "Tired," she voiced out.

"Yea, sleep is starting to hit me too, ya know." Raijen stifled a yawn as he watched Seifer roll his eyes at the two.

"You'll sleep when you're good and dead," he mumbled out, taking another chug.

"You stay here, man." Raijen placed a good thirty gil on the table. "My treat, ya know?" Raijen slid out of the booth, holding his hand for Fujin. She took it wearily and the two walked out, their hands grazing each other lightly.

Seifer sighed, pushing back his hair. They acted like they wanted no one to know, and yet, everyone knew. They were the most bizarre couple anyone in Dollet had come to see. However; people accepted it and loved watching the two do whatever it was they pleased that day. Whether it was go shopping for art pieces, or just have a lunch.

He rolled his eyes. Many of his acquaintances had called him 'jealous' as he watched them. Maybe they were right. He took another sip of his drink and then realized that it was empty. He groaned and looked around, the place slowly dying as the night lingered on. He stood up carelessly and then heard a loud crash on the ground. "Oh great," he mumbled out as he opened his eyes.

"Sorry!" he heard a...sweet voice called out. He looked around, his ears deceiving him almost. He looked down at the ground, seeing her flat on her bottom. All around her were broken pieces of glass and various assortments of alcohol.

He held out his hand and she took it gratefully. He pulled her up and looked down at her. She blinked and looked back up at him, her chocolate brown hair covering her face. "Don't be sorry. I should've looked if anyone was coming."

"Happens all the time." She placed her hands on her hips and looked down. "Um, I should probably get this cleaned up..."

"Yea," he said as he sat back down.

She blew at the hair that hid her face and he looked at her. She had freckles that lined her cheeks. They made her eyes almost shine a brilliant bronze shade. "I'll be back..."

The waitress walked away from the mess. Seifer could only turn around and watch her. Then, he realized she wasn't a waitress at all. She was wearing flared jeans, a lighter color than normal, and black boots. Her hair was covering the shirt she was wearing, or the back of it rather.

She was talking to the bartender, pointing over at his table. Knowing his luck, the bartender was probably her overly jealous boyfriend and was going to come and kick his ass. Seifer sighed and played with the thirty gil on the table.

"Hey!" It was the girl, he turned and looked at her as she smiled. "I was carrying some drinks to my table over there," she said as she pointed behind her, "and I talked to my brother and he said that your drinks are covered for the night."

He blinked. "Um..."

"Yea. So, don't worry about it! He's going to come over and take of the mess and if you want to change tables, he said it was fine."

Seifer blinked again, getting a good look at her face this time. Full lips. Oh Hyne, she had full lips. He suddenly felt weak.

"You there?" she said as she waved her hand in front of his face.

"Oh, sorry...had one too many I guess," he mumbled, his mind going a mile a minute. His eyes took a quick glance at her lower body. Complete curves in all the right places.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea to let you have free drinks then, huh?" she giggled out. "I'm Senera, by the way."

He saw her hand sitting there, waiting to be shook. He slowly raised his hand, grasping hers and giving her a firm, yet gentle hand shake. "Seifer."

She smiled and shook back, bringing her hand back to her side. "I'll see you around?" she asked, her voice almost hopeful.

He couldn't resist but to give her his typical smile. He saw a slight flush come to her cheeks. His thoughts began to blast at full volume. _Works every time_. "You'll definately see me around."

She nodded her head, her hair moving with her movements. She turned around, watching her step as she walked back to her table, slightly glancing back at him.

He smiled now, raising his glass to drink and then realized what exactly he was going to do ten minutes ago. He chuckled slightly as he slid out of his booth, walking casually up to the bar, a bit of a bounce to his step. "Sorry about Senera," was the first thing to slip out of the bartender's mouth.

"Huh? Oh...its ok. That kind of stuff happens all the time."

"No, not really. Her friends put her up to it."

His eyes lifted up and he looked at the bartender. The siblings looked slightly alike, the main exception were the eyes. "What do you mean?"

"She's been talking about you all night long to her friends. They told her she'd never have the guts to talk to you..."

Seifer blinked as he watched the bartender clean a glass mug. "Why...wouldn't she?"

The bartender shrugged. "I'm Andrew. Seen you and your odd couple friends in here tons of times."

"Seifer," he said casually, leaning against the bar and look across the way to Senera's table. "So, does she have a boyfriend?"

"Nope. Hasn't had one in two years." Seifer nodded his head and suddenly found his drink in front of him. "You don't need to amuse her, just so you know."

"Amuse her?" Seifer asked.

Andrew smiled and turned and looked at the blonde. "You know. Flirt with her to get into her pants." Seifer choked on his drink a bit. "You have that kind of reputation around here." A quick roll of the eyes. "Don't think I don't notice all the girls flash their smiles at you."

"That means nothing. I'm not some kind of man whore," Seifer mumbled out. He was thankful he was thinking of a make believe rumored reputation rather than his other one. Most of the other towns he had been in rejected him and shunned him. "Maybe they just want to get in my pants, hm?"

Andrew smiled. "Now, what I'm curious about is, since we're discussing so many great topics here, is why are you always alone, hm?"

"No one to be with," Seifer answered swiftly. He had been asked that at least once a month. "What about your sister? She's gorgeous."

"Her last boyfriend cheated on her. She kind of lost trust for all men."

Seifer watched her still until she stood up, waving to her friends as they stood up and slowly walked out of the bar. She turned around and walked quickly to where Andrew and Seifer were at. "Andrew, you still didn't clean up that mess," she said in a teasing voice.

"Meh, it can wait. Not a busy night tonight."

Seifer smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. She was definately interesting. "Dad's going to kill you if it stains..."

Andrew rolled his eyes and walked to a door from behind the door, giving him access to another room and possibly a way out leaving the two alone. "Guessing your dad owns the bar?"

"Kind of. He passed it on to my brother and retired, but, its his third child I guess you would say. He comes in from Balamb once a week to check up on Andrew."

"Would you like to go on a date sometime?"

Silence. The only sound that could even be heard, no matter how faint it was from both their beating hearts, was the music. "Um...sure..."

Seifer slid away from the bar and looked at her, shaking her hand and leaning in slightly, kissing her cheek softly. "I'll meet you here tomorrow night at seven then?"

Senera nodded once again, blinking her large brown eyes. "Sure..."

"Alright. See you then."


End file.
